rebuttable

Rebuttable is an adjective used to describe a rule, assumption, or inference that can be contradicted or overturned by presenting contrary evidence. A rebuttable presumption or inference remains in effect only until evidence or argument undermines it; it is not conclusive and can be displaced by persuasive counter-evidence. In contrast, an irrebuttable or conclusive presumption cannot be overcome by contrary evidence.

In law, rebuttable presumptions are common and operate as initial guidelines for fact-finding. Examples include the presumption of innocence in criminal trials, which requires the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the presumption of legitimacy of a child born to married parents, which can be rebutted by evidence such as non-paternity. Other contexts include presumptions of regularity, authenticity of documents, or survivorship in certain civil proceedings. The exact allocation of the burden of production and persuasion varies by jurisdiction, but the general idea is that the party opposing the presumption can introduce evidence to defeat it, after which the fact-finder weighs all relevant proofs.

In evidence and statistics, a rebuttable inference is one that can be challenged by countervailing data. In philosophy of science, a claim is described as rebuttable when it is open to falsification by empirical evidence; falsifiability is often cited as a hallmark of scientific hypotheses, though not all reputable scientific claims are easily falsified in practice.

Overall, rebuttable denotes the potential to be disproven, rather than being an absolute or settled conclusion.